posted by Chris Willman | Yahoo! Our Country
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3 years ago

(Yahoo!) - Taylor Swift went from being invited onto the Rolling Stones’ stage a few nights ago to invitingTim McGraw and Keith Urban onto her stage Thursday night, which was as star-studded a way as any to kick off the CMA Festival’s four nights of stadium shows in Nashville.

The home of the Tennessee Titans played host to more than one match of the titans Thursday. Not long after Swift brought out McGraw and Urban as guests for their No. 1 single “Highway Don’t Care,” the Zac Brown band upped the collaborative ante by dueting with Kenny Rogers on “The Gambler” and Kid Rock on the Grand Funk oldie “We’re An American Band.”

Before performing “Highway Don’t Care” — which, on record, at least, is officially a McGraw track — Swift sang an acoustic verse and chorus of her first hit, “Tim McGraw.” Backstage, she talked about getting the call that completed the cycle from dreamy 16-year-old fan to McGraw’s fully fledged co-conspirator.

“Honestly, Tim and Faith (Hill) have both been some of the most supporting, encouraging people in my career,” she said. “And to have them be so supportive of me for so many years, and then to finally get the phone call from Tim that said ‘Hey, do you want to work on something together,’ and you fast forward and now it’s the No. 1 song… It just has been a beautiful, magical process. Keith is one of my favorite musicians and one of my favorite songwriters. Standing on a stage with those two, it just is unbelievable and very hard to explain the level of excitement I feel when I get to collaborate with people I admire so much.”